Kidnapped Korean tourists released in Egypt

29 hours after they were kidnapped in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, three Koreans tourists have been safely released.

The Bedouin tribesmen had snatched the four as they were traveling back from a famous tourist site on Mount Sinai on Friday.

The freed people reportedly said that the gunmen were not violent at all but rather kind, and even gave them some food.

They added that the clan told them the only reason behind kidnapping foreign tourists was to negotiate the release of their imprisoned colleagues with the Egyptian government.

It is, however, unknown whether Egyptian officials have accepted their conditions or not.

This is the third such kidnapping of foreign civilians this year by the Bedouin, a sign of lawlessness gripping in Egypt, following the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak last year.

The three Koreans have safely crossed over to Israel to continue on with their tour to pilgrimage sites.

Korea’s foreign ministry, meanwhile, has raised its travel alert level to Egypt one notch to level three which is one level short of a full travel ban.